


The Professor on the Doorstep

by kirani



Series: Hogwarts, Please! [2]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Gen, Prequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-05
Updated: 2019-02-05
Packaged: 2019-10-23 00:30:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17672984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kirani/pseuds/kirani
Summary: Before Liam Poindexter went to Hogwarts, someone had to tell him he was a wizard.A prequel to Bludger, Please! told from Aileen Poindexter's POV





	The Professor on the Doorstep

**Author's Note:**

> this was originally written for an OC writing contest and I had so much fun with it I had to post it. You don't need to read Bludger, Please! but I would love if you did!

There’s a woman at the front door. 

She hadn’t heard a car drive up but suddenly there’s a woman at her front door in an oxford shirt and a light jacket with a long shapeless skirt. 

Aileen puts a hand on her hip.

“Can I help you?”

The woman smiles a thin smile. She looks far too old to be wandering the Irish countryside alone but she doesn’t seem to be lost or confused. 

“Mrs Poindexter?” 

“Yes?” Aileen agrees warily. 

“I’m Professor McGonagall, could I speak with you?”

“I’m afraid I’m rather busy at the moment, Professor. What did you need to speak with me about?”

“I’m the headmaster at a school and would like to speak with you about your son, William.”

“Liam? He’s not going to a fancy school, sorry.”

“Please, Mrs Poindexter, just a few moments of your time.”

Aileen sighs but eventually opens the door wide enough and admits the tall woman and her severe bun. 

She puts the kettle on as the professor seats herself at the large kitchen table.

“Is your son around?” She enquires as Aileen sets about making the tea. 

“No, all of the children are working.”

“Working?”

“It’s a family farm, Professor. We all work. You only chanced to call at a time I was at the house, I’m usually out as well.”

“Well, I am glad I caught you, then.”

“Aye, and what was it you wanted to speak with me about?”

“Well, Mrs Poindexter, the school at which I am headmaster is a bit unusual. It is the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”

“I beg your pardon,” Aileen stutters, trying to maintain her manners. “Is this some kind of joke?”

“I assure you it is not,” the professor says seriously, pulling a wand out of her sleeve. “If I may?” 

Aileen blinks at her. “Are you asking if you can do magic in my kitchen?”

“Well, yes,” the professor stammers. “You seemed not to believe me.”

“I believe this is a prank of some kind and I’ll have Padrick’s hide for it.”

“Who is Padrick?” 

“Oh yeah, play it up,” Aileen huffs, standing up and opening the window over the sink. “Padrick! Get your arse in here! Now!”

She turns around and fixes the professor with a glare while Padrick makes his way to the kitchen. He opens the back door and stops at the sight of the woman at their table. 

“Nice prank, but it’s over now,” Aileen says. “Tell your friend it’s time to leave now.”

“I’m so sorry about my wife, ma’am. I didn’t catch your name.”

“Professor McGonagall, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I’m here to talk to you about your son, William.”

Padrick shakes her hand but looks more confused than he can generally pull off in a prank. 

“I was just asking your wife if I might demonstrate, perhaps to help make my case?”

Padrick waved a hand in a ‘go ahead’ fashion and the woman quite suddenly transformed into a cat. 

One moment, she was a tall, severe, old woman, and the next she was a tabby cat with little glasses marked out in the fur around her eyes. She transformed back and fixed them with a small smile as she awaited their judgment. 

“You say this is about Liam?” Padrick says at last.

“Yes, sir,” Professor McGonagall smiled a little wider, though her lips were still thin. Perhaps they were just thin lips. “He’s been accepted to Hogwarts, to begin in the fall. He’ll be trained by the best witches and wizards in the British Isles and learn to control and use his magic. Has he ever done anything… strange?”

Aileen looked at Padrick and he looked back, one eyebrow cocked. 

“Yeah, alright, you tell her then. I’ve never understood it.”

“I haven’t either, darling, but our Liam has certain ways of doing things that always struck me as odd.”

“Such as?” Professor McGonagall prompts. 

“Well, he hates mucking out the horse stalls. Calls it the worst job on the farm. But we rotate, all of us, so he has to do it sometimes. Except… we kept finding manure in strange places. Places Liam shouldn’t be able to get to and says he didn’t put it. And our Liam is a good boy, ma’am, he doesn’t lie and he seemed so distraught when we found it. It’s happened a couple of times. We took him off horse stall duty.”

“Possibly his magic helping him subconsciously,” Professor McGonagall nodded.

Aileen pursed her lips. 

“So my boy is magic, then?”

“Yes, Mrs Poindexter. He’s a wizard.”

“How does that happen? We’re all perfectly normal, non-magical folk here,” Padrick asks.

“Sometimes wizards are born to non-magical families. It’s quite common actually, a lot of our students are muggle born.”

“What did you call me?” Aileen interrupts, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Muggle, it’s what we call non-magical folks. I assure you I meant nothing by it.”

“How does this work, then?” Padrick redirects, rightly spotting her growing temper. She takes a deep breath as the professor begins to explain. 

“Much like any boarding school, really,” she smiles that thin-but-pleased smile again. “Our school year is September first through the end of June. There is a two-week break for winter holidays and one week for Easter.”

“Are you lot Catholics, then?”

“Not generally, no, but many students like to go home to their families for holidays.”

“Our Liam is a good Catholic boy. This all sounds rather outside that. How do I know you’re not here to corrupt my child?”

“Mrs Poindexter, I take my role as Headmaster incredibly seriously. Teaching magical children to control and use their magic properly keeps them and the world at large safe. Without the proper training, his magic could lash out or become uncontrollable. It is the best way, to have him taught at Hogwarts.”

“What’s all this cost then? We haven’t got money for any fancy boarding schools.”

“There is no tuition for Hogwarts, only the costs of the uniform, books, and supplies. All transportation is also provided.”

“I suppose we can manage that,” Aileen concedes. “Alright, then.”

“Really?” comes a squeal through the window, and Liam’s red hair pops up over the window sill. “I can go?”

“Come in here, I’m not having this conversation through the window. You, too, Erin.”

Sure enough, Erin’s head pops up beside Liam’s and the two come around to the back door. 

“Yes, you can go. But I want regular letters home and good report cards. You’ll come home every summer and work on the farm. You will not step a toe out of line.”

“Yes, Mum, I promise.”

“I know you’re a good boy, Liam. I trust you.”

Liam blushes and Aileen suddenly remembers the professor is still standing in her kitchen.

“Professor McGonagall, this is my son, Liam,” she guides him towards her. 

“Pleased to meet you, Professor,” Liam says politely, shaking her hand. 

“Pleased to meet you, Mr Poindexter. I expect you’d like your letter, now.”

From within her jacket pocket, she withdraws a thick envelope. Liam takes it from her and rips it open eagerly as Aileen watches. 

Padrick steps to her side and wraps an arm around her shoulders. She thought she’d have so much more time before she sent any of her children off to school, Paddy was only 13 and hadn’t shown much interest in academics anyways, so he probably wouldn’t go to university. 

Liam was different though, he always had been. Strange manure incidents aside, he was a quiet boy. Studious and hardworking and closer to his sister than his father or brother. He was sensitive and kind and took after her in his looks, which she liked. He would do well at whatever he set his mind to. She just didn’t think he would be leaving so soon. 

Padrick squeezes her as they watch him read quickly, likely feeling a bit of the same turmoil at their child growing up so fast. Though he’s probably more upset about losing a strong pair of hands around the farm. 

“Where do I buy all this?” Liam asks finally, looking back up at his new Headmaster.

“I can take you and your parents to the shops you’ll need.”

Tearing her eyes away from Liam, she sneaks a look at Erin. Only a year younger than Liam, the two are attached at the hip. She looks as though she’s trying not to cry.

Aileen breaks away from Padrick gently and wraps Erin up in a tight hug behind Liam, who is chatting excitedly about the various supplies his letter asks him to bring to school. It all sounds awfully expensive, but they’ll manage. 

Something that gets her Liam to light up like this? It’ll all be worth it. 


End file.
